Bill Foster (baseball player)
Encyclopedia
William Hendrick "Bill" Foster (June 12, 1904 – September 16, 1978) was an American
left-handed pitcher
in baseball
's Negro leagues
in the 1920s and 1930s, and had a career record of 143-69. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Foster, the much-younger half-brother of Negro league player, pioneer, and fellow Hall of Famer, Rube Foster, was born in Calvert, Texas
in 1904.
in 1923 and '24, the Chicago American Giants
from 1925 to '30—and again from 1932 to '35 and in 1937—the Homestead Grays
and Kansas City Monarchs
in 1931, and the Pittsburgh Crawfords
in 1936.
Foster played for Chicago American Giants teams that won the Negro National League pennant and the Negro League World Series
championship in 1926 and 1927, the Negro Southern League
pennant in 1932, and the Negro National League pennant in 1933. He was the player-manager of the team in 1930.
In 1926, Foster won 23 games in a row and 26 overall, but his most amazing performance came the last day of the playoffs to determine the Negro National League title. Needing to win both games of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Monarchs, Foster hurled complete game
shutout
s in both games of a doubleheader
against Bullet Joe Rogan and the Monarchs, 1–0 and 5–0, to put the Giants in the World Series.
In 1931 Foster, as a pitcher for the Homestead Grays, recorded a 10–2 record against rival African-American teams. His record against rival African-American teams increases to 11–3, if you count the games that were won and lost in Alcorn, Mississippi, when Syd Pollock's Cubans House of Davids visited Alcorn College
prior to Foster joining the Grays. Foster finished the 1931 campaign with J. L. Wilkinson
's Kansas City Monarchs where on October 4, 1931 he blew his fast ball past a major league all-star team composed of such legendary men as Babe Herman
, Joe Kuhel
and both Waner brothers, Lloyd
and Paul
. In the game played at Kansas City's Muehlebach Field
, Foster captured a 4–3 win. During the 1931 season Foster struck out ten men in a game on nine different occasions and posted a seasonal high of sixteen strikeouts in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, on August 6. He also recorded four shutouts. Foster finished 1931 with a 23-5 record.
He was the top vote getter and the winning pitcher in the first East-West All-Star Game in 1933, and was on the All-Star team again in 1934.
Foster's pitch selection included a fastball
, overhand curve
, slider
, sidearm curve
, and a changeup
. This arsenal made him one of the better pitchers on the classic 1990s baseball game, Old Time Baseball.
. In 1978 Foster died in Lorman, Mississippi
, at the age of 74.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
left-handed pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
's Negro leagues
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
in the 1920s and 1930s, and had a career record of 143-69. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Foster, the much-younger half-brother of Negro league player, pioneer, and fellow Hall of Famer, Rube Foster, was born in Calvert, Texas
Calvert, Texas
Calvert is a city in Robertson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,192 at the 2010 census, a 16.4% decline from the 2000 census. It is part of the Bryan-College Station metropolitan area.-Geography:...
in 1904.
Professional career
Foster played for the Memphis Red SoxMemphis Red Sox
The Memphis Red Sox were a professional Negro League baseball team based in Memphis, Tennessee from the 1920s until the end of segregated baseball....
in 1923 and '24, the Chicago American Giants
Chicago American Giants
Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team, owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Foster. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball...
from 1925 to '30—and again from 1932 to '35 and in 1937—the Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...
and Kansas City Monarchs
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...
in 1931, and the Pittsburgh Crawfords
Pittsburgh Crawfords
The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Named after the Crawford Grill, a club in the Hill District of Pittsburgh owned by Gus Greenlee, the Crawfords were originally a youth semipro team sponsored by...
in 1936.
Foster played for Chicago American Giants teams that won the Negro National League pennant and the Negro League World Series
Negro League World Series
The Negro League World Series was a post-season baseball tournament which was held from 1924-1927 and from 1942-1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east coast counterparts....
championship in 1926 and 1927, the Negro Southern League
Negro Southern League
The Negro Southern League was a Negro baseball league organized in 1920 that lasted into the 1940s. Negro leagues in Southern United States were far less organized and lucrative than those in the north due to Jim Crow laws. Tom Wilson organized the Negro Southern League in .For most of its...
pennant in 1932, and the Negro National League pennant in 1933. He was the player-manager of the team in 1930.
In 1926, Foster won 23 games in a row and 26 overall, but his most amazing performance came the last day of the playoffs to determine the Negro National League title. Needing to win both games of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Monarchs, Foster hurled complete game
Complete game
In baseball, a complete game is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher.As demonstrated by the charts below, in the early 20th century, it was common for most good Major League Baseball pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start. Pitchers were...
shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
s in both games of a doubleheader
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...
against Bullet Joe Rogan and the Monarchs, 1–0 and 5–0, to put the Giants in the World Series.
In 1931 Foster, as a pitcher for the Homestead Grays, recorded a 10–2 record against rival African-American teams. His record against rival African-American teams increases to 11–3, if you count the games that were won and lost in Alcorn, Mississippi, when Syd Pollock's Cubans House of Davids visited Alcorn College
Alcorn State University
Alcorn State University is an historically black university comprehensive land-grant institution in Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871-History:...
prior to Foster joining the Grays. Foster finished the 1931 campaign with J. L. Wilkinson
J. L. Wilkinson
James Leslie Wilkinson was an American sports executive who founded the barnstorming All Nations baseball club in 1912, and the Negro league baseball team Kansas City Monarchs in 1920....
's Kansas City Monarchs where on October 4, 1931 he blew his fast ball past a major league all-star team composed of such legendary men as Babe Herman
Babe Herman
Floyd Caves "Babe" Herman was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who was best known for his several seasons with the Brooklyn Robins ....
, Joe Kuhel
Joe Kuhel
Joseph Anthony Kuhel was a first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. From 1930 through 1946, Kuhel played for the Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox . He batted and threw left-handed. Following his playing career, Kuhel managed the Washington Senators...
and both Waner brothers, Lloyd
Lloyd Waner
Lloyd James Waner , nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball center fielder. His small stature at 5'9" and 132 lb made him one of the smallest players of his era. Along with his brother, Paul Waner, he anchored the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield throughout the 1920s and 1930s...
and Paul
Paul Waner
Paul Glee Waner , nicknamed "Big Poison", was a German-American Major League Baseball right fielder.-Pittsburgh Pirates:...
. In the game played at Kansas City's Muehlebach Field
Municipal Stadium (Kansas City)
Kansas City Municipal Stadium was a baseball and football stadium that formerly stood in Kansas City, Missouri. It hosted the minor league Kansas City Blues of the American Association from 1923 to 1954 and the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues during the same period...
, Foster captured a 4–3 win. During the 1931 season Foster struck out ten men in a game on nine different occasions and posted a seasonal high of sixteen strikeouts in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, on August 6. He also recorded four shutouts. Foster finished 1931 with a 23-5 record.
He was the top vote getter and the winning pitcher in the first East-West All-Star Game in 1933, and was on the All-Star team again in 1934.
Foster's pitch selection included a fastball
Fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch in baseball. Some "power pitchers," such as Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, have thrown it at speeds of 95–106 mph and up to 108.1 mph , relying purely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit...
, overhand curve
Curveball
The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. Its close relatives are the slider and the slurve. The "curve" of the ball varies from pitcher to...
, slider
Slider
In baseball, a slider is a pitch that breaks laterally and down, with a speed between that of a curveball and that of a fastball....
, sidearm curve
Curveball
The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. Its close relatives are the slider and the slurve. The "curve" of the ball varies from pitcher to...
, and a changeup
Changeup
A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball. Other names include change-of-pace, Bugs Bunny change-up, the dreaded equalizer, and simply change. The changeup is sometimes called an off-speed pitch, although that term can also be used simply to mean any pitch that is slower than a fastball...
. This arsenal made him one of the better pitchers on the classic 1990s baseball game, Old Time Baseball.
Later life
From 1960 to 1977 Foster was a dean and the baseball coach at his alma mater, Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical CollegeAlcorn State University
Alcorn State University is an historically black university comprehensive land-grant institution in Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871-History:...
. In 1978 Foster died in Lorman, Mississippi
Lorman, Mississippi
Lorman is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States. It is home to Alcorn State University, which was attended by Medgar Evers and Steve McNair ....
, at the age of 74.